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Trade & Earn -- Rewards Program
Earn VRTX by trading on Vertex.
Vertex’s rewards program incentivizes users via the VRTX token to perform various actions within the Vertex app. VRTX rewards are available to anyone interacting with the protocol based on several qualifying conditions and parameters iterated in this section.
Known as the Vertex Trade & Earn program, rewards in the VRTX token are allocated to users pro-rata relative to the total pool size of VRTX tokens earmarked for each epoch of the rewards program.
Trade more, earn more VRTX.
The Vertex Trade & Earn program is designed to align long-term incentives between users and the future growth of the Vertex protocol by rewarding users for their activity with VRTX tokens.
The VRTX token rewards program comprises the VRTX tokens earmarked for the Ongoing Incentives Phase and Initial Token Phase portions of the VRTX token supply distribution, reflecting the following percentage allocations of the 1 billion total VRTX tokens.
- Ongoing Incentives = 34.0%
- Initial Token Phase = 10.0%
- Total VRTX tokens for Trade & Earn Program = 44%
UPDATE: As of November 8th, 2023 the Initial Token Phase of the Trade & Earn program has concluded. The Ongoing Incentives Phase commenced with Epoch #8 on November 8th, 2023. Readers can skip down to the Ongoing Incentives Phase section to learn more.
It’s important to clarify the difference between the two phases of the Vertex Trade & Earn program where VRTX rewards are distributed to users:
- 1.Initial Token Phase
- 2.Ongoing Incentives Phase
Both phases are enumerated in detail in the sections below.
Please refer to the Vertex Terms of Service and the disclaimer at the bottom of this page for details concerning the explicit ban of wash trading on Vertex, including the resulting consequences for violating the terms relevant to the Trading Rewards.
The first phase of the Trade & Earn program was the Initial Token Phase, comprising 10.0% of the total VRTX supply. The Initial Token Phase ran for 7 months from the Vertex mainnet launch on Arbitrum in April 2023 until November 8th, 2023.
The Initial Token Phase of the Vertex Trade & Earn program has officially concluded as of November 8th, 2023. Epoch #8 of the Trade & Earn program officially launched on the same day -- commencing the Ongoing Incentives Phase of the Trade & Earn program that runs for the next 6+ years.
The Initial Token Phase was primarily a trading incentive program with the principal objectives to:
- Incentivize traders to use various aspects of the Vertex application.
- Augment market liquidity on Vertex.
- Offer users an avenue to share in protocol growth by contributing to the DEX.
The 10.0% of the VRTX supply in the Initial Token Phase consisted of a pool of VRTX tokens, earned per user, pro-rata every epoch.
Trading rewards are distributed in VRTX, and the pool of incentives is split and distributed proportionally to traders based on their taker fees.
Reward weight percentages assigned to each listed market pair on Vertex can be found in the table located in the Perpetual & Spot Market Specifications section of the documentation.
Summary of Parameters defining the Initial Token Phase include:
- 1 Epoch = 28 Days
- Total VRTX Tokens in Pool = 100,000,000
- Total Epochs = 7
NOTE -- Users that earned VRTX Trading Rewards during the Initial Token Phase can:
- 1.Pre-Claim & Supply VRTX to the Vertex LBA.
- 2.Liquid Claim VRTX Rewards after the Vertex LBA.
- 3.Swap, Pool & Stake VRTX after the Token Launch.
For more details on the Vertex LBA and how to claim VRTX Trading Rewards, please refer to the Vertex LBA section here.
The percentages of VRTX Trading Rewards allocated to each listed market on Vertex are defined below and updated consistently to reflect any changes.
11/08/2023: The VRTX Reward details contained in this section are current as of the beginning of Trade & Earn Epoch #8, which is the first Epoch of the Ongoing Incentives Phase.
Taker Rewards: Epoch #8 marks the beginning of the Ongoing Incentives Phase of the Vertex Trade & Earn program.
The following changes for Taker Rewards went into effect as of Epoch #8 and moving forward:
- Spot Markets: The ARB, ETH, and BTC spot markets will have their own allocation for VRTX token rewards -- meaning they will no longer be combined with corresponding perpetual markets.
- Minimum Trade Sizes: Increased across all products.
- USDT Taker Rewards: The USDT taker rewards will be capped at a maximum of 5%. In other words, a minimum of 95% of a given epoch's taker rewards will be calculated across all markets excluding stable-pairs.
Maker Rewards (See Table Below): The table below displaying reward percentages per market explicitly refers to Maker rewards. It does NOT reflect Taker rewards (see above).
The Maker reward percentages allocated to each market below are subject to change following new listings and will be updated accordingly.
Vertex Perpetual & Spot Market Specifications
The Initial Token Phase and Ongoing Incentives Phase separate reward functions into different categories of users across Vertex’s core products. For more details on user types on Vertex, please refer to the fees section covering the subject here.
These user types include:
- 1.Makers/Liquidity Providers (LPs)
- 2.Takers
You can find further details on the Fee Structure and Maker/LP Weighting in the graphic below, also available in the fee section of the Vertex documentation.
Maker/Taker Trading Fee Structure
Maker Program Rebates Weighting
The minimum depth and maximum spreads per market are as follows:
Depth:
- $25K for stables.
- $5K for core markets (BTC & ETH).
- $2.5K for alt markets (non-BTC & non-ETH).
Spreads:
- 10 bps for stable.
- 30 bps for core markets (BTC & ETH).
- 50 bps for alt markets (non-BTC & non-ETH).
NOTE (10/11/23) -- Max spreads for core markets (BTC & ETH) were recently increased from 20 --> 30 bps. Additionally, max spreads for alt markets were increased from 40 --> 50 bps.
VRTX Trading Rewards for the Initial Token Phase are claimable after the Vertex LBA. For more details on the LBA and claiming available VRTX tokens, please refer to the section here.
Any future VRTX earned by users during the Trade & Earn program's Ongoing Incentives Phase are viewable on the Rewards Page of the Vertex app.
Sequencer Fees are not included in the Trading Rewards calculations for either makers or takers -- meaning they do not generate VRTX rewards.
The second part of the Trade & Earn program is the Ongoing Incentives Phase, comprising 34.0% of the total VRTX token supply.
11/08/2023: The Ongoing Incentives phase is currently active, which began with Trade & Earn Epoch #8.
Any VRTX trading rewards accrued via the Ongoing Incentives Phase are claimable 3 days after an Epoch concludes.
- Any VRTX rewards that remain unclaimed for the subsequent 30 days will be returned to the Protocol Treasury.
The Ongoing Incentives Phase represents the Trade & Earn rewards portion of Vertex's ongoing emissions schedule for the next 6+ years.
Restrictions on token rewards are no longer in effect, meaning there is no vesting period nor is there a cap on the value of rewards.
Monthly VRTX Token Allocation Emissions Breakdown:
Ongoing Incentives Phase Parameters:
- 1 Epoch = 28 Days
- Total VRTX Tokens in Pool = 340,000,000
- Total Epochs = 72+
NOTE: The parameters described in the Reward Breakdowns Per Market are applied to the Ongoing Incentives Phase.
The Vertex proposal to the Arbitrum DAO’s Short-Term Incentives Program (STIP) successfully passed the Snapshot governance vote on October 13th, 2023 – garnering over 160 million FOR votes.
As a result, Vertex’s request for up to 3 million ARB tokens has been granted by the DAO.
Per the Vertex Proposal to the Arbitrum DAO STIP, trading incentives in ARB will also be available to Vertex users and displayed on the Rewards Page. ARB trading rewards are accrued on top of VRTX trading rewards -- meaning users earn both VRTX and ARB by trading on Vertex.
The ARB trading incentives will be available for 12 weeks, including the following Trade & Earn Epochs:
- Epoch #8
- Epoch #9
- Epoch #10
- Total ARB Trading Rewards: 1.35M – 2.55M ARB total (450K – 850K ARB per 28-day epoch).
- Reward Mechanism: Rewards on trading fees up to a maximum of 75% of the taker fee paid. The balance will be split proportionately if:
75% * Total Trading Fees > Allocated Grant Available
- ARB Incentives Distributed per Week: 175K ARB
The Rewards Page on the Vertex app has been updated to reflect the ARB trading incentives, and are claimable directly via the Rewards Page. Please refer to the section below for details on claiming ARB trading rewards on the Vertex app.
11/08/2023: The following changes will go into effect for Epochs 8, 9, and 10.
- 10M VRTX per epoch as ongoing incentives. Rewards are evenly split between market-making and price-taking activities as per prior epochs.
- Rewards are claimable 3 days after epoch ends, and any rewards that remain unclaimed for the subsequent 30 days will be returned to the Protocol Treasury.
- 850K ARB per epoch distributed for price takers; up to a max of 75% of the taker fees paid. Claimable weekly.
- Sequencer fees lowered from 0.1 --> 0 USDC for any order that takes liquidity from the book -- applied to all markets on Vertex.
The Rewards Page is located on the Vertex app and contains all of the relevant information for users related to their current VRTX reward distributions.
The Rewards Page serves as a hub for users to track their trading rewards for the Ongoing Incentives Phase for the remainder of the VRTX token emissions schedule. After the VRTX token goes live, users can claim their accrued VRTX from their trading activity directly from the Rewards Page.
11/09/2023: The Rewards Page now reflects ARB trading rewards in addition to:
- VRTX Trading Rewards.
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Vertex Rewards Page -- Includes VRTX & ARB Rewards Plus LBA Positions
Disclaimer – Vertex and its affiliates intend to offer a token rewards program to distribute governance tokens to a decentralized community in connection with the anticipated launch of the Vertex DAO. Terms and conditions of the token rewards program are subject to change. There can be no assurance that the token distribution program or the DAO will be launched or that rewards will be available related to participation on Vertex Protocol or otherwise. Vertex will consider legal, regulatory, and any other matters deemed relevant in connection with its decision to launch a token distribution program and a DAO.
***Wash trading on Vertex is strictly prohibited and explicitly banned under Vertex’s Terms of Service.
Attempts to wash trade on Vertex in any capacity, whether to manipulate the VRTX Trading Rewards or for any other reason, will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately.
Wash trading typically involves two accounts trading directly against each other to induce artificial market activity with specific intent. The trading usually comprises the vast majority of their volume and is trivial to detect. It is difficult to accidentally wash trade, and suspected cases of wash trading will be flagged rapidly as evidence emerges.
Addresses involved in wash trading on Vertex will be excluded from all Trading Rewards epochs. Complicit accounts will also have their addresses published as part of an ongoing list of excluded wallets from the Vertex Trading Rewards. Further actions deemed necessary may also be taken against wash trading accounts based on the circumstances.
Any impact across relevant exchange data (e.g., volume, trading fees, etc.) from wash trading on the Trading Rewards for a given epoch will be vacated, meaning regular users' VRTX rewards will NOT be diluted by wash trading activity.
Last modified 2d ago